U.S.

Warning: The US has more pesticide products registered than Canada, and some are registered for more uses in the US.The label names of the pesticides may be different. However, the chemical pesticides and alternatives information and the informative quality of the reports produced is mostly outstanding. One just has to ensure that the products or uses described are registered in Canada when interpreting them.

The Essentials

* Beyond Pesticides - excellent pesticide and alternatives fact sheets; news, issues, reports, campaigns
www.beyondpesticides.org

* Bio-Integral Resource Center (BIRC) A California-based group with 2 publications: the IPM Practitioner for people working in the field of integrated pesticide management (IPM) or Ingegrated Vegetation Management (IVM) with a defined goal of pesticide reduction and using the least toxic approach first; and Common Sense Pest Control Quarterly for the public. Back issues of the publications with topics of interest can be ordered through publications and reprints and finding the topic of interest.

* Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides - awesome resources: some of the best fact sheets on pesticides and alternatives; many "how to" articles including "how to research health effects", "how to use Material Safety Data Sheets", etc; sign up for free "Healthier Homes and Gardens Program"
www.pesticide.org/default.htm

Pesticide-free parks

* Pesticide Action Network North America - the most complete pesticide data base; unfortunately not much Canadian specific information yet; subscribe to Pan-Ups, an e-news service sending information on resources, major related news and action alerts; much more
www.panna.org/

Safelawns.org is a site launched by Paul Tukey who also wrote The Organic Lawn Care Manual, an excellent reference about organic lawn care from seeding to all aspects of maintenance. It is available in Saskatchewan book stores. An excellent DVD on the same topic and othr resources are available through the web site.

A Chemical Reaction  is a documentary movie about the origin of the anti-pesticide movement that has swept across Canada and into the U.S.It is an independent production with no marketing budget or studio backing. The film is available for purchase from www.safelawns.org. You can also pass along the link to the web site at www.ChemicalReactionMovie.com.

Campaign

* National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/

Great info on Organic training for municipalities, action items and great organic resources for lawns, diseases, insects, pesticide informations and tools for activists.

 

- Other useful sites

  

* Agricultural Resources Center/Pesticide Education Project; Toxic-free Schools
http://metalab.unc.edu/arc/

* Californians for Pesticide Reform - intro to pesticides; lots of great reports including "Secondhand Pesticides"; community action guides including "Healthy School Campaign"; all is free
www.igc.org/cpr/

* Californians for Alternatives to Toxics
www.alternatives2toxics.org/

* Environmental Research Foundation; "Rachel's Environment and Health News" newsletter
http://www.rachel.org/home_eng.htm

* Environmental Working Group; go to issues and click Toxics, Human testing of pesticides and Pesticides and children; great reports including Body Burdens identifying many dozens of contaminants in people
www.ewg.org/

* Rachel Carson Council; publication for veterinarians: "36 Insecticides Used on or around Dogs and Cats"; "Basic Guide to Pesticides and their Effects"; "Rachel Carson Council News"; newsletter; video lending library ( under our page/catalog)
http://www.autopenhosting.org/rachelcarsoncouncil/

* Silent Spring Institute
www.silentspring.org/
Toxtown- Toxfarm etc Environmental health concerns on the Farm: A Farm neighborhood is the newest addition to

* Tox Town, a Web-based introduction to environmental health risks and toxic chemicals. http://www.toxtown.nlm.nih.gov